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All posts for the month September, 2007

The Navy plans to spend $600,000 for ‘camouflage’ landscaping and rooftopadjustments so that 1960s-era barracks at the Naval Base Coronado near SanDiego will no longer look like a Nazi swastika from the air.accordingto the NY Times.I reported on the offensive building on August 1 and August 3 afterlearing about it from a fellow blogger. Now it seems that becauseeveryone can easily see it on internet satellite view, the Navy issufficiently embarrassed to cover up the bad design.

Of course, that won’t stop Bush and Cheney from acting like Nazis, but atleast it should look better.

POLYGAMIST RAILROADEDThough some hoped that the Bill of Rights, or at least Truth, wouldprevail, Warren Jeffs’ trial came to a preordained verdict. With perhapsthe most absurd leap of legal logic in history, he was convicted of beingan accessory to a rape that no one committed.The girl, in what sounded like carefully scripted and rehearsed testimony, claimed thather husband raped her. He said that she seduced him. He was never evencharged with rape, and certainly not convicted of it.So Jeffs was convicted of accessory to a rape that never officiallyhappened, at which he was never accused of being present. Such absurditycould have been written by Lewis Carroll, It is hard to like Jeffs or his church, but that is not supposed to bethe point in the American system of justice.

It is cooling here in Phoenix. Riding home from work on my motorcycle was pure pleasure as multi-scented breezes massaged my senses, the steady throb of the Shovelhead engine reassuring me that, if I wanted to, I could go on forever.

It is tempting to leave the city, follow a quiet secondary highway with gentle curves through small towns, to stop somewhere and sleep under the stars, then wake up and ride on to where ever comes next. I’ve done that, and I’ll probably do it again, but not tonight.

It is sad that not everyone can just enjoy the simple pleasures of life. So often someone, either incidentally out of greed or purposely out of hatred, intolerance, or religion, gets in the way.

Some black students want to sit under a shade tree, but the white students think they ‘own’ it, and hang nooses from the branches. The resentment, the anger doesn’t go away. Eventually some black guys beat up a white guy. Yes, that was wrong, but if anyone in charge of the local law or the school system had been paying attention, or cared, it might have been taken as a sign that lessons in racial tolerance needed to be taught; that the respect for human dignity is the key to harmony.

Instead, the authorities decided on the lesson: Keep Them In Their Place, and Make an Example of Them. So, they deserve every bit of the negative national attention they’re getting. Perhaps most members of the community are innocent of racism, and no one should generalize. But good local government requires citizens to choose their leaders carefully. If you believe in equality and justice, make sure your mayors and judges and prosecutors do too.—————-

Freedom of religion in America works fine as long as your religion isn’t too different. Some men who are only allowed one wife get really annoyed at polygamists. It is the worst kind of envy when, instead of getting more yourself, you make sure the other person has less.

So, the same government whose Constitution guarantees freedom of religion is prosecuting, and persecuting, the leader of a Mormon sect that practices polygamy, in a trial that is clearly a farce.

You don’t have to like Warren Jeff’s religious beliefs. You don’t have to like polygamy. But if we persecute religions we don’t like, or any kind of opinions or beliefs or lifestyles or orientations we don’t like, we are no longer a free nation. It is as simple as that.——————–A note to the producers of TV network news: many important events happen every day that don’t get reported because there isn’t enough time. Every hour you spend telling stories of O.J. Simpson or some other naughty celebrity of the week is a waste of time and a failure of responsible journalism. ——————-

The family jewels might be more valuable than you think! Research indicates that testicles might be a source for stem cells. Good work, scientists– looks like the balls are in your court.

Recently a friend and I were discussing the concept of ‘7 Deadly Sins’, a product of Catholic Christianity in the Dark Ages. Some of them, I observed, still have relevance today. There is indeed far too much greed, envy, gluttony, and anger in the world. I would call these character flaws rather than sins, and I pointed out that the problem with each of them lies in excess, rather than considering them absolutes.

A moderate amount of greed and envy would be called ambition, which motivates people to work for their fair share. Anger is a problem if it is overwhelming, and mostly when it is misdirected into violence, but channeled constructively, it can be a positive force to right wrongs.

As for sloth, while it is not often useful to hang upside down from tree branches eating leaves, it could be considered harmless and relaxing. Of course what they mean is laziness. The term is unfair to the poor sloth, who is working just as hard as he needs to. Some people, no doubt, should work harder, but many are working too hard, resting too little, and not enjoying life. Look for the happy medium, I say. (And when you find her, ask her why she’s happy.)

Then there’s pride. One can have too much of it, or be proud of the wrong things, but many have too little. A feeling of pride is how we reward ourselves for developing personal qualities like honesty, integrity, and compassion that often have no external reward. Most people’s achievments do not bring fame or fortune, yet we should take pride in doing anything well.

Listed last but not least is lust. Including it on a list of sins was the most harmful disservice to humanity ever done by a religion. Lust is as natural as hunger, and serves a purpose just as beneficial.

It is important to realize that the purpose of lust is not merelyreproduction. That is secondary. A high and fairly constant level ofsexual desire is the key factor in mankind developing as a social animal,forming groups able to cooperate, sharing knowledge and skills to notonly survive but to prosper and improve. Without that socialization wewould not have been able to use our complex brains and ability tomanipulate tools to much advantage. We would not have civilization.

Prior to Christianity, men and women in highly developed civilizationsenjoyed and celebrated their sexuality. But in the middle ages, churchauthorities twisted the original teachings into sexual repression,bringing on an era of guilt and misery

Naturally, being human, we continued to enjoy our lust and express ourlove, but the conflict with religion caused confusion and divisiveness. It interfered with relationships between men and women, greatly increasedfrustration, anxiety, and depression.

Much of mankind has emerged from these lingering irrational attitudes,but they continue to inflict psychological harm on many. It is importantto recognize the beneficial nature of healthy human lust, both toindividuals and to civilization as a whole, and stop calling it a sin.